The scotopic sensitivity, reaction time, eye movements, and visually evoked cortical potentials of 12 nonsmokers and 6 smokers were measured during the course of 3 hr of exposure both to air and to 200 ppm CO in air. No significant degradation in performance was observed for any of these measures in either group during the course of the exposure.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Visual processes of smokers and nonsmokers at different ages.

Forty smokers and forty nonsmokers were matched for age over the range from 21 to 76 yr. The battery of tests included: optometric refraction for near vision, scotopic sensitivity, simple and choice reaction time, visually evoked cortical potentials to targets flashing at 1 and 16 times/sec, EEG, and a perimetric test of color detection. Roughly the same number of smokers and nonsmokers required spectacle corrections, but smokers tended to require more plus correction. The mean scotopic sensitivity of the smokers was significantly worse than that of the nonsmokers. Reaction time tended to be poorer for the smokers. There were no differences on the perimetry test and in the EEGs of the smokers and nonsmokers, and no significant changes in the visually evoked responses to either 1 or 16 flashes/sec. There was virtually no evidence of an increasing difference between the smokers and nonsmokers with increasing age.

Adult↗